It Happened One Autumn (12 page)

“Mine also,” he said, approaching her slowly. “For many reasons, not the least of which is the privacy it offers.”

“You don’t have much privacy, do you? With all the comings and goings at Stony Cross Park…”

“I manage to carve out sufficient time for solitude.”

“And what do you do, when you’re alone?” The entire situation was beginning to seem rather dreamlike, talking with Westcliff in the orangery, watching the glimmers of stray torchlight score across the harsh but elegant modeling of his face.

“I read,” came his gravelly voice. “I walk. Occasionally I swim in the river.”

She was suddenly grateful for the darkness, as the thought of his unclothed body sliding through the water caused her to flush.

Reading discomfort in her sudden silence, and mistaking the cause, Westcliff spoke gruffly. “Miss Bowman, I must apologize for what happened earlier today. I am at a loss to explain my behavior, other than to state that it was a moment of insanity that will never be repeated.”

Lillian stiffened a little at the word “insanity.” “Fine,” she said. “I accept your apology.”

“You may set your mind at ease with the knowledge that I do not find you desirable in any way whatsoever.”

“I understand. Enough said, my lord.”

“If the two of us were left alone on a deserted island, I would have absolutely no thought of approaching you.”

“I realize that,” she said shortly. “You don’t have to go on and on about it.”

“I just want to make it clear that what I did was a complete aberration. You are not the kind of woman whom I would ever be attracted to.”

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“All right.”

“In fact—”

“You’ve made yourselfquite clear, my lord,” Lillian interrupted with a scowl, thinking that it was undoubtedly the most annoying apology she had ever received. “However…as my father always says, an honest apology comes with a price.”

Westcliff shot her an alert glance. “Price?”

The air between them crackled with challenge. “Yes, my lord. It’s no trouble for you to mouth a few words and then be done with it, is it? But if you weretruly sorry for what you did, you would try to make amends.”

“All I did was kiss you,” he protested, as if she were making far too much of the incident.

“Against my will,” Lillian said significantly. She adopted an expression of wounded dignity. “Perhaps there are some women who would welcome your romantic attentions, but I am not one of them. And I am not accustomed to being grabbed and forcefully subjected to kisses that I didn’t ask for—”

“You participated,” Westcliff retorted, wearing a Hades-like grimace.

“I did not!”

“You—” Seeming to realize that it was an unproductive argument, Westcliff broke off and swore.

“But,” Lillian continued sweetly, “I might be willing to forgive and forget. If…” She paused deliberately.

“If?” he asked darkly.

“If you would do one small thing for me.”

“And that would be?”

“Merely to ask your mother to sponsor my sister and me for the coming season.”

His eyes widened in a most unflattering manner, as if the notion was outside the bounds of reason. “No.”

“She might also instruct us on a few points of British etiquette—”

“No.”

“We need a sponsor,” Lillian persisted. “My sister and I won’t make headway in society without one.

The countess is an influential woman, and well-respected, and her endorsement would guarantee our success. I’m certain that you could think of a way to convince her to help me—”

“Miss Bowman,” Westcliff interrupted coldly, “Queen Victoria herself could not drag a pair of savage brats like you along the path of respectability. It’s not possible. And pleasing your father is hardly enough incentive for me to put my mother through such hell as you are capable of creating.”

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“I thought you might say that.” Lillian wondered if she dared follow her instincts and undertake a huge risk. Was there any chance that in spite of the wallflowers’ lack of success with their perfume experiment this evening, it was still capable of working some magic on Westcliff? If not, she was about to make a terrible fool of herself. Taking a deep breath, she stepped closer to him. “Very well—you leave me no choice. If you don’t agree to help me, Westcliff, I will tell everyone about what happened this afternoon.

I daresay people will find no small amusement in the fact that the self-possessed Lord Westcliff cannot control his desire for a bumptious American girl with atrocious manners. And you won’t be able to deny it—because you never lie.”

Westcliff arched one brow, giving her a look that should have withered her on the spot. “You are overestimating your attractions, Miss Bowman.”

“Am I? Then prove it.”

Surely the feudal lords in Westcliff’s extensive ancestry had worn an expression just like this when they had disciplined rebellious peasants. “How?”

Even in her present spirit of throwing caution to the wind, Lillian had to swallow hard before answering.

“I dare you to put your arms around me,” she said, “as you did earlier today. And we’ll see if you have any more luck in controlling yourself this time.”

The scorn in his gaze revealed exactly how pathetic he considered her challenge. “Miss Bowman, as it appears that I must put this plainly …I do not desire you. This afternoon was a mistake. One that will not be made again. Now if you will excuse me, I have guests to—”

“Coward.”

Westcliff had begun to turn away, but the word caused him to swivel back to her with sudden incredulous fury. Lillian guessed that it was an accusation that had rarely, if ever, been leveled at him.

“What did you say?”

It required every inch of backbone she possessed to hold his icy gaze. “Clearly you’re afraid to touch me. You’re afraid that you might not be able to control yourself.”

Looking away from her, the earl gave a slight shake of his head, as though suspecting that he must have misunderstood her. When he glanced back, his eyes were filled with active hostility. “Miss Bowman, is it so difficult for you to comprehend that I don’twant to hold you?”

Lillian realized that he would not be making such a fuss if he was completely confident in his own ability to resist her. Encouraged by the thought, she moved nearer to him, not missing the way his entire body seemed to tense. “The issue isn’t whether you want to or not,” she replied. “It’s whether you’ll be able to let go of me once you do.”

“Incredible,” he said beneath his breath, glaring at her with rank antagonism.

Lillian held still, waiting for him to pick up the gaunt-let. As soon as he closed the remaining distance between them, her smile died away and her mouth felt oddly stiff, and her heart thumped hard at the base of her throat. One glance at his purposeful face revealed that he was going to do it. She had left him no choice but to try and prove her wrong. And if he did, she would never be able to look him in the face again.Oh, Mr. Nettle, she thought weakly,your magic perfume had better work.

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Moving with infinite reluctance, Westcliff gingerly put his arms around her. The escalation of Lillian’s heartbeat seemed to drive the air from her lungs. One of his broad hands settled between her tense shoulder blades, while the other pressed at the small of her back. He touched her with undue care, as if she were made of some volatile substance. And as he brought her body gently against his, her blood turned to liquid fire. Her hands fluttered in search of a resting place until her palms grazed the back of his coat. Flattening her palms on either side of his spine, she felt the flex of hard muscle even through the layers of silk-lined broadcloth and linen.

“Is this what you were asking for?” he murmured, his low voice at her ear.

Lillian’s toes curled inside her slippers as his hot breath tickled her hairline. She responded with a wordless nod, feeling crestfallen and mortified as she realized that she had lost her gamble. Westcliff was going to show her how easy it was to release her, and then he would forever afterward subject her to ruthless mockery. “You can let me go now,” she whispered, her mouth twisting in self-derision.

But Westcliff didn’t move. His dark head dropped a little lower, and he drew in a breath that wasn’t quite steady. Lillian perceived that he was taking in the scent of her throat …absorbing it with slow but ever-increasing greed, as if he were an addict inhaling lungfuls of narcotic smoke.The perfume , she thought in bemusement. So it hadn’t been her imagination. It was working its magic again. But why did Westcliff seem to be the only man to respond to it? Why—

Her thoughts were scattered as the pressure of his hands increased, causing her to shiver and arch.

“Damn it,” Westcliff whispered savagely. Before she quite knew what was happening, he had pushed her up against a nearby wall. His fiercely accusing gaze moved from her dazed eyes to her parted lips, his silent struggle lasting another burning second, until he suddenly gave in with a curse and brought their mouths together with an impatient tug.

His hands adjusted the angle of her head, and he kissed her with gentle bites and nips, as if her mouth were an exotic delicacy to savor. Her knees weakened until she could hardly stand. This was Westcliff, she tried to remind herself …Westcliff, the man she hated …but as he sealed his mouth harder over hers, she couldn’t stop herself from responding. Straining against him, she instinctively rose on her toes until their bodies were perfectly aligned, the aching place between her thighs cradling the rigid bulge behind the buttoned fall of his trousers. Suddenly realizing what she had done, she flushed and tried to pull away, but he wouldn’t let her. His hand clenched firmly over her bottom, holding her there while his mouth devoured hers with smoldering sensuality, licking deeply, exploring the damp silk of her inner cheeks. She couldn’t seem to catch her breath… she gasped as she felt his free hand search the front of her bodice.

“I want to feel you,” Westcliff muttered against her trembling lips, tugging in at the unrelenting obstruction of her padded basque. “I want to kiss you everywhere…”

Her breasts hurt inside her tightly cinched bodice. She was possessed by the insane urge to tear away the quilted lining of her corset and beg him to soothe her tormented flesh with his mouth and hands.

Instead she threaded her fingers through the thick, slightly curling locks of his hair while he kissed her in a fever of rising need, until her thoughts were no longer coherent and she was shivering with desire.

Suddenly the heady stimulation ended, as Westcliff tore his mouth away and thrust her back against a fluted half column. Breathing raggedly, he half turned from her, and stood there with his fists clenched.

After a long time, Lillian collected herself sufficiently to speak. The perfume had worked rather too well.

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Her voice was thick and scratchy, as if she had just awoken from a long sleep. “Well. I …I suppose that answers my question. Now…as to my request for sponsorship…”

Westcliff did not look at her. “I’ll think about it,” he muttered, and strode from the orangery.

“Annabelle, what happened to you?” Lillian asked the next morning, joining the other wallflowers at the farthest table on the back terrace for breakfast. “You look dreadful. Why aren’t you wearing your riding habit? I thought you were going to try out the jumping course this morning. And why did you disappear so suddenly last night? It’s not like you to simply vanish without saying—”

“I didn’t have a choice in the matter,” Annabelle said testily, folding her fingers around the delicate bowl of a porcelain teacup. Looking pale and exhausted, her blue eyes ringed with dark shadows, she swallowed a mouthful of heavily sweetened tea before continuing. “It was that blasted perfume of yours—as soon as he caught one whiff of it, he went berserk.”

Shocked, Lillian tried to take in the information, her stomach plummeting. “It… it had an effect on West-cliff, then?” she managed to ask.

“Good Lord, not Lord Westcliff.” Annabelle rubbed her weary eyes. “He couldn’t have cared less what I smelled like. It was myhusband who went completely mad. After he caught the scent of that stuff, he dragged me up to our room and…well, suffice it to say, Mr. Hunt kept me awake all night.All night ,” she repeated in sullen emphasis, and drank deeply of the tea.

“Doing what?” Daisy asked blankly.

Lillian, who was feeling a rush of relief that Lord Westcliff had not been attracted to Annabelle while she was wearing the perfume, gave her younger sister a derisive glance. “What do you think they were doing? Playing a few hands of Find-the-Lady?”

“Oh,” Daisy said as comprehension dawned. She regarded Annabelle with unmaidenly curiosity. “But I was under the impression that you liked doing…that … with Mr. Hunt.”

“Well, yes, of course I do, but…” Annabelle paused and turned red. “That is, when a man is aroused to that extremity—” She stopped as she realized that even Lillian was paying keen interest to her words.

Being the only married member of the group, she possessed a knowledge of men and intimate matters that the others were exceedingly curious about. Generally Annabelle was quite forthcoming, but she drew the line at disclosing private details of her relationship with Mr. Hunt. Her voice lowered to a whisper.

“Let’s just say that my husband does not need the influence of some potion that increases his physical appetite even more.”

“You’re sure it was the perfume?” Lillian asked. “Perhaps something else set him off—”

“It was the perfume,” Annabelle said unequivocally.

Evie broke in, looking puzzled. “But wh-why didn’t it stir Lord Westcliff when you wore it? Why did it affect only your husband, and n-no one else?”

“And why didn’t anyone take any notice of Evie or me?” Daisy asked, disgruntled.